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I have had the following symptoms for a few years off and on but since fall 2012 they have been persistent and increasing in severity.

sharp pain in spine between shoulder blades. Muscle pain (straining in back and pecks).swollen painful joints (left shoulder, elbow, knuckles)Finger joints feel swollen often. Fingertips numb/prickly oftenTearing sensation or pinching sensation in shoulder muscles, bicep, forearm.Left pectoral muscle aches (feels strained)Shoulder often has the feeling of something wedged between the joints. pops and clunks.Lose dexterity often in left arm/hand. Sometimes I just tuck my hand in my back pocket and don't even bother trying to use the arm when it gets in the way at work.

I'm lean (eat gluten free) and active. Pain is severe at times and feels like im bathing in it if that makes any sense. Morning starts off ok but gets worse as the day goes on. Activity aggravates the pain. I am drug free because of a dependency issue several years ago so no pain relievers. I will have a glass (or more) of wine to numb things up. If I have too much the next day feel like I'm being torn apart (like today )

I have suffered a few back injuries (including the spine area I feel pain now, and it will slip out every once in a while) and shoulder injuries so me and the doc have gone down that rout for treatment but the therapy is not working and the pain is increasing and is not localized to the injured locations. I am in for a physical next week and want to encourage my doc to refer me to the next step.

Any suggestions on how I can approach an MRI request would be helpful. I will likely refuse any drug treatment but I would like to know what the cause is and then I can deal with pain management in the appropriate way for my post drug years.

sharp pain in spine between shoulder blades. Muscle pain (straining in back and pecks).swollen painful joints (left shoulder, elbow, knuckles)Finger joints feel swollen often. Fingertips numb/prickly oftenTearing sensation or pinching sensation in shoulder muscles, bicep, forearm.Left pectoral muscle aches (feels strained)Shoulder often has the feeling of something wedged between the joints. pops and clunks.Lose dexterity often in left arm/hand. Sometimes I just tuck my hand in my back pocket and don't even bother trying to use the arm when it gets in the way at work.

I'm lean (eat gluten free) and active. Pain is severe at times and feels like im bathing in it if that makes any sense. Morning starts off ok but gets worse as the day goes on. Activity aggravates the pain. I am drug free because of a dependency issue several years ago so no pain relievers. I will have a glass (or more) of wine to numb things up. If I have too much the next day feel like I'm being torn apart (like today )

I have suffered a few back injuries (including the spine area I feel pain now, and it will slip out every once in a while) and shoulder injuries so me and the doc have gone down that rout for treatment but the therapy is not working and the pain is increasing and is not localized to the injured locations. I am in for a physical next week and want to encourage my doc to refer me to the next step.

Any suggestions on how I can approach an MRI request would be helpful. I will likely refuse any drug treatment but I would like to know what the cause is and then I can deal with pain management in the appropriate way for my post drug years.

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